I love Anselm. Merry Anselm. 
Anselm is sleek, debonair and charming. And what a great history he’s got. Read up on Anselm of Canterbury, I won’t bore you here. Suffice to say, he was one of the few dissenters of the Crusades! It takes a strong soul to stand up and disagree (Photoquilty, I’m thinking of you as I write this!) and I admire them, one & all. For a long time it was death to oppose the masses, and those few that dared then, have my utmost regard. Wow!
Anyway, Back to Anselm. I’ve gone into the “family patron saint” thing before and it’s funny that we do this, like my Mother & Grandmother before me, only neither of us are Catholics, where they were (go back to the great, great, greats and you find the Jews in the family)! Anselm charms me to my toes. Not like Rufus, Remy, Bruno or Cosmo do, no, but close.
He’s nearly impossible to pair though. I’ve been working on pairing him for two days and nothing has jumped out at me yet. Now, I know he’s kind of odd to a lot of people but I don’t think he should be. I mean, he’s one letter off of Ansel, and everyone seems to know that one, why is Anselm unusable yet Ansel is?
Here’s the few beginnings that had promise for me:
Anselm Constantine
Anselm Finnian
Anselm Valentin
Anselm Isidore
Anselm Porfirio
Anselm Erasmus
And that’s all I’ve got so far. Anyone have anything else that might mesh with Anselm? I mean, I’ll be spending time tonight thinking of more but I’d love to see what you brilliant folks come up with for me! 
What do you think, so far? Is Anselm going to get weird reactions from people or is he really no weirder than Byron (which is what I think)? I think Anselm’s pretty spiffy, actually. And I warn you now, expect to see more of him in the near future!
8 Comments
05/03/2009 at 9:29 pm
I would hesitate matching Anselm with another obvious saint’s name. Anselm Constantine or Valentine sound like going a bit overboard.
It looks like you’ve decided on a 3-syllable match for Anselm. Maybe it would match well with an equally English type name. I also think it might work better in the middle.
Anselm Florian
Anselm Fiorello
Anselm Theodore / Fyodor
Anselm Henry
Anselm Julian/Julius
Anselm Benjamin
Anselm Bradford
Anselm Francis
Anselm Gabriel
Anselm Faolan
Anselm Franklin
I just had some fun with this. Really, the first name that popped into my mind was Franklin, though I didn’t think it sounded that good.
I’m not sure how I like all of these, but see if anything sounds good to you. I’m a rookie.
06/03/2009 at 1:23 am
Anselm ~ interesting! He’s not in the Brainstormer; but I found an Anselme. I’m not sure I agree about having too many saints; I wouldn’t have thought too many people would recognise them all anyway. For me, Constantine and Valentine would be my top contenders. Such flair! My number three pick would have been Anselm Isadore; but Isadore doesn’t have quite the same mystique as the others.
06/03/2009 at 9:18 am
I guess when I say “obvious saint’s name” I don’t mean something common like John, Mark, Luke…
I mean something like Chrystostom – something that is so uncommon that it is only used in reference to the saint. Anselm in my mind fits this, though Constantine doesn’t as much.
06/03/2009 at 11:54 am
I love -lm in names. it is soft and welcoming. Anselm is sweet and wise and careful and attentive and listening. Very medieval. And – yeah, protest those crusades, man!
Also super tough to pair, for me at least, because I have a hell of a time pairing A’s anyway, and Anselm is such a neatly wrapped complete package within itself. I think Isidore is closest out of yours.
Let’s see.
Anselm Benedict
Anselm Rudolf
Anselm Teofil
Anselm Leopold
Anselm Lorin
Anselm Florin
Anselm Brendan
Anselm Boniface
Anselm Gottlieb
Anselm Robert
Meh. I dunno. But that’s more or less the take I have on Anselm – old european names with gentle syllables.
I think it’s totally usable but then again I think pretty much everything is usable.
06/03/2009 at 12:48 pm
Anselm really is so handsome! Glad to see you considering it. I love the suggestions of Anselm Leopold (out due to Leo, perhaps?), Anselm Gabriel, Anselm Fyodor, the tamer version Anselm Theodore, and Anselm Florian.
To me, the names on your list are a bit flowery and exotic with the already out there Anselm. Something comforting like George or Edward sandwiched in between Anselm and one of these choices would make me happy.
Glad to see the saints getting some play.
06/03/2009 at 3:19 pm
Thanks gang! Vague, I think you’re right in keeping away from obvious saints names, although I have my doubts about many people catching Anselm as one. And I like a few of your suggestions, Rookie you may be, but you’ve got style, don’t down yourself!
Lachlan, you too, Valentin’s no saint to me, I had a very odd great uncle with the name. Constantin too, for that matter. Takes me a good few minutes to recall they are! Bootleggers the Uncles were for a good while, but sweet, old men when I knew them as a child. They’re staying for now.
Emma, thanks for the vote of confidence and I agree, he’s tough to pair. I had similar trouble with Maud, she’s perfect in and of herself as is Anselm. But there are a few of your suggestions I like as well, and you made me remember another, similar one!
Elisabeth, I am thrilled to have you weigh in here, I really value your thoughts, my near name-twin! Anselm Fyodor is an awesome thought, and would honor Pop’s side (Theodore) with Mom’s heritage(Russian). Very slick, Fyodor! Florian’s out for me, Ken just thinks flowers when he sees it and will NOT consider Florian for a second. Not even when I point out the Ian part could be his nickname. Nope. Not even in the middle. The similar feeling (for him) Ferdinand is out as well. Makes me sad.
So what I’ve got on the list now are:
Anselm Julius
Anselm Theodore
Anselm Gabriel
Anselm Rafael (the similar thought)
Anselm Constantin
Anselm Valentin
Anselm Benedict/Bendick/Bennett
Anselm Rudolf (have loved Rudolf forever, Emma, how’d you guess?!?)
Anselm Fyodor
And will definitely be tying these together with one of the classics: Edward, George, Francis, Arthur, James or John, most likely! Look for another post soon!
06/03/2009 at 6:12 pm
Oh! Rudolf high five! I am always hesitant to suggest it because it gets shot down mercilessly whenever I bring it up, but it was my #2 for ages.
07/03/2009 at 9:20 am
Oh no, Emma! I’ve liked Rudolph & Rudolf forever. He says no Rudy, so it’s middle material but I thoroughly like Rudolf (a bit better than Rudolph).